Something New, Black, and Blue
by Kagari-hime
Summary: When Yuffie decides to visit the Seventh Heaven, something catches her eye. Something she had never seen before, at least, not on Tifa. Definitely not on Tifa by a certain blonde. Could she really be seeing it, or was she just imagining it?


Here is a little something I had in my mind for a few days. I hope it's not too confusing and if it is, I hope that continuing to read will clear any questions. I also apologize for any grammatical errors you might find. I tend to write at night, when I'm tired and more susceptible to make mistakes – sorry!

With that said, I must include a nice disclaimer, letting the whole world know I do not own Final Fantasy VII, its characters, or anything of the sort. You guys know the deal~ Hahaha! xP

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Dark grey eyes squinted, trying to focus better. The target moved so much it was a little difficult to know whether or not it even existed at all, but the owner of the dark eyes wasn't planning on giving up anytime soon. She was going to find out if that spot was real or not, whether it took all evening and a few nags.

"Then, Denzel threw piece of the dough at Cloud and started the food fight. So in the end, we didn't end up making any dumplings. The kitchen was a complete mess!" The soft laughter of the bar owner snapped the short haired, dark-eyed girl sitting on the barstool back into reality.

Yuffie tore her intense gaze away from her target and looked at her good friend from over the counter. Tifa had been telling her stories about the weekends she spent with the kids and Cloud, and they sounded all too perfect.

She was happy for the woman, really, but Yuffie was mostly driven by curiosity right now and she couldn't help but stare at that one spot on her friend, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her.

Cloud had finally returned home for good this time and according to Tifa, he made plenty of time for his family. Movie nights, family trips, rides on Fenrir, picking the kids up from school, making them all breakfast sometimes. Cloud was devoted, something the ninja had a hard time believing, but with every story Tifa told, she found herself slightly more inclined to give the man a break and accept his improvements as achievements he'd worked hard for.

It had been months back since they encountered any trouble. Deepground had happened seven months ago and even before then, Tifa had claimed Cloud had returned home for good and had become a family man. A good slap to the face was what Cloud needed, Yuffie always thought, but she knew there was much more to the two childhood friends than just a crush and a troubled soul.

It was true what Tifa said. All of it was true. Cloud had been staying home more often when compared to when he started his business. The kids and Tifa seemed happier, and heck, even the man himself wasn't as gloomy.

Yuffie visited the Seventh Heaven every once in a while, and whenever she did, it somehow always ended up becoming a girl-talk visit where she and Tifa would sit down and share secrets. Contrary to popular belief, Yuffie _could_ keep a secret, and Tifa knew this and thus trusted her; so when Yuffie saw that mark for just half a second today, she couldn't resist the urge to hear the story as to how it got there.

"Yuuuuffie?" Tifa hummed as she waved a hand in front of the mentioned girl.

"Gah-ah! Tifa! I'm sorry! Just a little out of it." Yuffie shook her head from side to side and then after scratched the back of her head.

"That's alright, I was just asking if you wanted some pie." Tifa glanced over to the freshly baked apple pie that was just about done cooling off on the counter near the stove.

_There it is!_ Yuffie screamed in her head as she glanced at the spot again. But just as quickly as it had been revealed, it was covered…. By Tifa's hair.

Yuffie couldn't stand it anymore, so as soon as the older woman handed her a nice slice of pie, she decided to strike. What better time to interrogate one of your best friends than on a Saturday evening, alone in the bar, with no signs of the kids or their male caregiver whom were out getting ice cream.

"Tifa," Yuffie took a bite big out of her pie and immediately stood up. She _had_ to see it; it had been taunting her for the past hour and a half she had been sitting down and talking to raven haired woman.

"Hmm?" Tifa smiled, turning around to face the younger female.

"What the heck is this?" Yuffie boldly swept her hand under her friend's hair and lifted it, revealing the side of Tifa's neck, and as soon as she asked the question, she gasped, holding in the biggest grin of her young life.

"W-what?" Tifa sounded a little nervous; scared was some sort of abnormality growing from her neck.

Yuffie covered her mouth with her hands, holding back her smile, even though it showed right through her fingers.

"What is it, Yuffie?" Tifa was now worried, passing her hand gently on her neck.

That's when she felt _it_.

It was a slightly sore spot on her neck. The same spot she remembered Cloud-

"It's a _hickey!_" Yuffie squealed.

At this, Tifa gasped, pulling her long hair to one side, clearing her neck in order for her to see just what Yuffie was talking about. Walking to the microwave above the stove, Tifa tried her best to see her reflection on the shiny plastic.

There it was, a black and blue spot on the side of her neck – a bruise, rather.

It was a roughly placed hickey, not being exactly round and being darker on the top than on the bottom. It was rushed, Tifa could see, and by god, she was now flushed a perfect shade of crimson.

"Can I guess someone with spiky blonde hair placed that there…maybe last night?" Yuffie slyly smiled, picking up the fork with another big piece of pie and stuffing her mouth.

"Y-Yuffie!" Embarrased, Tifa felt the blood running through her cheeks, folding her arms over her chest.

With a full mouth, Yuffie replied, "I don't know what you're so embarrassed about! It was about time your two made some sweet, sweet love to each other. Was I right in guessing last night?" She swallowed and took another bite.

Tifa gasped. The nerve of the girl!

"Excuse me?" Tifa tried to sound angry as she roughly combed her fingers through her hair, but the blush on her face was not on her side.

"Pfffftttsssshhh! Don't get me started on the looks you two would give each oth-"

"Do you know what this _means_, Yuffie?! This means that the kids might have seen it, too!" Tifa was now mortified and ashamed. How could she have not noticed? How could she have forgotten how she told Cloud not to suck too hard _because_ it might leave a mark? How could she have forgotten to check for it in the morning? Now, late in the afternoon, the kids had ample time to take a glance at her neck and question not only what it was, but how it got there.

Tifa buried her face into her hands. "What have I done…?"

"So you walked around with a hickey for a day, that's not such a big deal. Killer pie, by the way," Yuffie finished off her pie and shrugged her shoulders. Right now, she was more interested in the events that led to it. "So, was it any good?"

Still basking in self-pity, Tifa moaned in frustration, looking up at her friend with an exasperated sigh. "Huh?"

"You know! How was…he?" Yuffie almost bounced in her seat.

Tifa gasped and stumbled back onto the fridge behind her.

"Oh, come on, Teef! No shame there! Tell me everything. Don't hold back." Yuffie traced a bit of pie filling on the plate and licked it off.

"I will not!" Tifa shouted.

"You won't tell me, or you won't hold back?" Yuffie smiled. "Is he big?"

Tifa cried one of those sad, cornered cries. The cry of a person that didn't like where the conversation had gone to.

"Was he skilled? He looks like the type to fumble a little bit-"

"We're home!" The voices of Marlene and Denzel broke the conversation in the kitchen. The two children came back, holding their favorite ice cream, taking a big lick of the treat with a huge smile on their faces.

Cloud entered right behind the children, closing the door behind him.

"Marlene, Denzel!" Tifa couldn't have been more selfishly grateful for these two children, so once they walked over and into the kitchen licking their ice cream, she gave them both a hug and a kiss on the forehead.

"They didn't have any more of your favorite, Teef, so I just got some more of mine. We can share if you want." Cloud walked over to the kitchen counter, placing a plastic bag containing more ice cream in it. "And here," he pulled out a nice sized container of chocolate ice cream and handed it to Yuffie.

"You got some for me?" Yuffie dreamily took the container out of his hand and began to devour the treat once she fetched the plastic spoon inside the bag.

"Yes, I did. I have to set a good example for the kids, you know? If it weren't for them, I don't think even Tifa would feed you." He narrowed his eyes as he took a larger container out and handed a spoon to the woman looking a little uneasy next to him.

He stared at her, raising a brow.

"Thank you, Cloud." Tifa's voice almost waivered, but the two other adults in the room caught it.

"You alright?" He opened the container and dipped his spoon into the creamy vanilla ice cream.

"Yes! Of course I am." She gave him a nice smile. It would have been a good escape too, had Cloud not known every one of her expressions and could tell them apart from genuine to forced.

"Let's go play basketball, Marlene." Denzel was already chewing on his cone, enjoying all the flavors of the ice cream still in it.

"Ohh! Sure!" Marlene licked the melting ice cream off her cone and was already making her way to the backyard of the bar. In a few minutes, she would give up because she couldn't make the ball into the adjusted hoop Cloud had installed back there. That mean Cloud had exactly a few minutes until the kids were back into the house.

Waiting for both children to walk outside, Cloud took a bite of his sugary dessert.

"What's the matter, Tifa?" He nudged her, inviting her to eat some of the ice cream in the tall, fancy paper cup.

"Nothing!" She smiled and complied, taking a bite and after, looking down at the table.

At her answer, Cloud raised a brow to the ninja seated on the bar stool.

"Hey, don't look at me – you're the one that did it." Yuffie raised her hands in defense.

"_I_ did it?" Cloud whispered furiously, "I was at the ice cream shop for the past hour waiting for the kids to finally decide what they wanted, and now, I'm here and have only been here for two minutes."

"Oh, no doubt about that," Yuffie reached over and patted him on the shoulder a few times, "But it looks like you were so taken in last night you forgot to follow the rules." Yuffie squeezed his shoulder and then placed her hand on her cheek, looking contemplative. "Oh, wait. Do you two even have rules? From the looks of Tifa, I'd say there are a few rules in bed-"

"Yuffie!" Tifa shushed the girl.

Cloud heard the entire thing, and narrowed his eyes at the young girl. "What did you say?"

"Cloud…" Tifa placed her hand on his arm, hoping she could pull him into the hall and explain to him what had transpired while he was out.

"Think about what you did last night." A cheeky grin worked its way up Yuffie's face.

Oh, now Cloud knew that Yuffie had gotten word from Tifa about what they had done last night. It had to have been Tifa, she was the only one there – in fact, she was the one he was making love to.

"Cloud…" Tifa called in a hushed manner.

"What _exactly_ did I do last night, Yuffie?" Cloud's tone was flat, but inside he was impatient to know what the girl was talking about.

"Look for yourself, sheesh." The girl waved her arms in Tifa's direction.

"Tifa?" Cloud looked over to his side, where a blushing Tifa was currently avoiding eye-contact.

"Yes?" She mumbled.

"What is she talking about, Teef?" Only Tifa caught the slight urgency in his voice.

Lifting her hand and carefully brushing her hair to one side, she tilted her head, making sure he saw what they were talking about.

Cloud bit his lip once his blue eyes caught the dark spot on her neck.

"I…" He started.

"You gave her a hickey! A hickey, Cloud!" Yuffie stated proudly.

"I didn't mean to." He softly brushed his thumb over the slightly swollen mark.

"She was worried the kids might have seen it. I thought she'd done a remarkably good job of unintentionally hiding it from me for so long." Yuffie snorted.

"I'm sorry," He apologized in a low voice. Tifa met his gaze with hers and gave him a small nod.

"If you need concealer, I have some, though I'm not sure I have your color." Yuffie offered, digging her hand in the bag that was sitting on the barstool next to her in hopes of finding her makeup.

"No, it's alri-" Cloud was interrupted.

"Oh, sure. Anything to cover this u-" Tifa was interrupted.

"I found i-" Yuffie was interrupted.

"Thank you." Marlene said gently. Apparently the last couple of times she had cleared her throat for attention didn't work, so she hacked up a really loud one, at just the perfect time too.

"Marlene…?" Tifa turned around, terrified of the sight by the garage door. There was Denzel leaning against the wall, trying not to make contact; and there was Marlene, standing right in front of the boy with an ice cream stained dress, looking a little irritated.

"Denzel accidentally hit my ice cream with the ball and messed up my dress, so I came in here… but now I want to know…" All three adults cringed internally, "What's a hickey?"

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Tada! There it is. It's short, but cute (I hope). I always liked how Cloud was sort of a big brother to Yuffie when it came to certain things. Cloud himself is just quite the character, huh?

Well, I hope you guys enjoyed it. Please leave me a review to let me know your thoughts! Thank you very much!


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